TikTok is one of the most influential and dynamic social networks today., attracting millions of users around the world with its short-form video format, boundless creativity, and a reach that goes far beyond physical borders. TikTok's ability to make content go viral has changed the way brands, businesses, content creators, and even individual users seek to connect and interact with their audiences. However, in this highly competitive environment, one of the best-kept secrets to increasing the visibility and engagement of your posts is knowing how to use them. The best times to post on TikTok.
The relevance of the timing of publication not only lies in the routines and habits of users, but is closely linked to how the TikTok algorithm works. This favors the recency and early interaction after publication, giving greater exposure to those videos that receive a positive response in the first few minutes and hours. Thus, posting at the optimal times can make the difference between going unnoticed or reaching thousands (or millions) of views.
Throughout this article, we explain in detail what the Best time slots to post on TikTok Whether you have a local or global audience, how to analyze your account statistics to customize your strategy, how differences in sectors and content types influence the best time slot, and delve into tricks, professional recommendations, and tools that the most successful brands use to expand their impact on TikTok.
Why is it essential to post at the best time on TikTok?
TikTok's algorithm relies on a combination of factors to decide which videos to recommend to each user on their "For You" page. Among the most relevant elements it considers are interaction, type of content, hashtags, sounds and trends, but also the novelty and speed with which a video generates reactionsThat is, the faster a video gets views and interactions after being posted, the more likely it is to go viral.
Posting when your audience is most active multiplies your reach of your content, as you'll receive an initial boost of views, likes, comments, and shares. This snowball effect can be key to the algorithm promoting the video even further.
- Recency: New videos are favored in the “For You” feed, especially if they generate engagement quickly.
- Early Engagement: TikTok first "tests" your videos with a small sample of users; if they respond well, the reach is amplified.
- Competition: Posting at the right time can put your content ahead of the daily flood of posts.
- Internationality: TikTok is a global platform; knowing your followers' time zones is essential if you want to maximize your impact.
For these reasons, it is not enough to simply create quality content; Posting at the right time is vital to boost your success.
Where is your audience located and how does that influence the best time?
Before deciding on a standard schedule, It is essential to know in which country or region most of your real followers are located.This not only affects the time zone, but also the cultural habits of using the app.
To identify this data accurately, TikTok makes available to creators the professional account statistics (TikTok Pro or TikTok Business). To access:
- Go to your profile and access “Settings and privacy.”
- Upgrade to a Pro (or Business) account by following the on-screen instructions.
- Go to the “Analytics” panel and look at the “Followers” information to identify the main country or region.
This process is essential because if your main audience is in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, the United States, or elsewhere, you'll need to synchronize your posting times with their peak activity times. Keep in mind if you have followers spread across several time slots, as this may require experimenting with different schedules or duplicating some posts at different times.
Also, review this information periodically, as profile growth can radically change the geographic distribution of followers and impact the current best time slot.
Best times to post on TikTok with a global audience
If your account attracts users from multiple countries, especially from different continents, it's advisable to rely on extensive research and cross-reference the data with your own metrics to find the optimal range. According to recent analyses by major platforms and marketing agencies, such as Influencer Marketing Hub and SocialPilot, The best global times for TikTok (Spanish peninsular time) they are usually the following:
- Monday: 13: 00, 15: 00
- Tuesday: 5:00, 9:00, 11:00, 13:00
- Wednesday: 14: 00, 15: 00
- Thursday: 6:00, 16:00, 19:00
- Friday: 2:00, 12:00, 20:00, 0:00
- Saturday: 18: 00, 19: 00
- Sunday: 3:00, 12:00, 13:00, 23:00
These bands collect the moments in which TikTok's global user base is becoming more activeHowever, if your audience is primarily from Latin America, the United States, or other regions, you'll need to convert the times to their time zones and experiment slightly to optimize performance.
When should you post on TikTok for a Spanish audience?
When the bulk of your followers are in Spain, local routines and customs determine the best times to post. According to various studies and the experience of hundreds of Spanish creators, The highest peak of activity occurs in the afternoons and evenings:
- From 19:00am to 00:00am (especially during the week)
- 07:00 - 09:00 for those looking to capture the morning audience (less saturation and active users on their way to work or school).
- 14:00 - 16:00 to take advantage of the midday break.
- Weekends: The use is somewhat more dispersed, but the afternoon-evening period stands out, especially between 18:00 p.m. and 22:00 p.m.
These patterns are repeated on other social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook). However, TikTok's unique nature is characterized by rapid and fragmented consumption, so personalized experiments can offer positive surprises outside of these timeframes.
Breakdown: Best times to post on TikTok day by day
Each day of the week presents certain nuances in TikTok activity. Based on research from benchmarks such as Shopify, Metricool, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social, these guidelines can be established for Spain (CET) and Spanish-speaking audiences:
- Monday: 12:00, 16:00, 20:00
- Tuesday: 4:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 15:00, 20:00
- Wednesday: 13:00, 14:00, 20:00
- Thursday: 5:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00
- Friday: 1:00, 6:00, 11:00, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00
- Saturday: 11:00, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00
- Sunday: 1:00, 2:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00, 22:00, 23:00
These times are aligned with the behavior of large groups of users and are based on studies of millions of TikTok posts. Experiment with these intervals and refine them based on your own data.
Does the best schedule vary by industry? Industry data
Differences in professional sectors can cause the most effective segment to vary considerably, as user profiles vary. Hootsuite, through a global analysis, identifies the most effective patterns in six key categories:
- Construction, mining and manufacturing: Tuesday from 16:00 PM to 17:00 PM, Thursday at 14:00 PM, Friday at 12:00 PM
- Consumer goods and retail: Wednesday from 14:00 PM to 17:00 PM, Friday from 11:00 AM to 14:00 PM
- Marketing agencies: Sunday at 10:00, Wednesday at 22:00, Friday from 21:00 to 23:00
- Media and entertainment: Tuesday at 19:00 PM, Friday from 14:00 PM to 17:00 PM, Sunday at 17:00 PM
- Real estate, legal and professional services: Thursday at 15:00
- Technology: Monday and Friday at 15:00 PM, Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
If your content is targeted to a specific industry, use this data as a reference and combine it with your own profile analytics.
How to find your best personalized schedule on TikTok
There is no universal magic formula This applies to all accounts. While mass studies provide a solid foundation, the real key to optimization is analyzing your own statistics and experimenting with different schedules. To do this:
- Activate a Pro or Business account on TikTok to access advanced statistics.
- Look at the “Followers” tab: Here you will know what time zones they are in and when they are most active by hour and day.
- Analyze the posting times of your most successful videos. Extract patterns about when they received the most views and engagement.
- Experience: schedule posts at different times and compare your results over several weeks.
- Use external tools such as Metricool, Hootsuite, Iconosquare or SocialPilot to get automated recommendations of optimal schedules based on your own historical data.
- Study the competition: Manually review the most relevant profiles in your niche to find successful patterns.
Document each of these experiments in a spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Excel, Notion, etc.) to identify the most effective pattern for your specific case.
Advanced tips to optimize engagement on TikTok
In addition to posting at the best time for your audience:
- Take care of the quality of your videos: Resolution, editing, lighting, and creativity impact retention and completion rate, which is highly valued by the algorithm.
- Use relevant and trending hashtags: mix popular and more specific tags to increase reach.
- Choose viral sounds and songs: TikTok promotes videos that tap into music and audio trends.
- Interact with your audience: Respond to comments, encourage participation, and create challenges or dynamics that generate conversation.
- Collaborate with other creators: Cross-collaborations extend your reach beyond your usual follower base.
- Post consistently: Weekly regularity promotes sustained growth of the profile and audience loyalty.
- Adapt and reevaluate your schedules: Review your statistics periodically, as user behavior may vary due to trends, events, or seasonality.
- Do A/B tests: Upload the same content in different time slots to compare performance (ideal when you have timeless materials or similar structure).
- Segment if necessary: For global or multi-niche accounts, consider diversifying schedules and customizing content for different segments.
Common mistakes when choosing the right time to post on TikTok
- Ignore your audience's time zones and guide you only by your time zone.
- Blindly follow general recommendations without doing your own experiments or consulting your analytics.
- Post only at “round” times (e.g., exactly at 10:00, 12:00, etc.), which can clutter users' feeds. It's recommended to post a few minutes before or after the exact time.
- Neglecting the quality of the content to prioritize the schedule. Not even the best timing will save an unattractive video.
- Underestimating the importance of consistency: Posting once a week at the best time does not compensate for the lack of regular activity.
Frequently asked questions about the best time on TikTok
- Is it worth posting in the morning? Yes, especially to capture attention before the day starts. Although afternoons are usually peak, mornings are less crowded and can be effective.
- Is it better to publish during the day or at night? It depends on the audience. For teens or college students, evenings and weekends may be ideal; for accounts targeting professionals, weekday afternoons or work breaks are optimal.
- What should I do if I have followers in multiple countries? Alternate schedules or experiment with duplicate posts tailored to each important time slot.
- Is it better to post shorter or longer videos? Engagement is typically higher with videos shorter than 10 seconds or, alternatively, longer than 54 seconds, as long as they retain the user's attention.
- Can I rely solely on external tools to choose my schedule? They are very useful as a guide, but your own data is always the most valuable.
Practical example: adjusting your schedule with real data
Suppose after 4 weeks of experimentation, your TikTok Analytics dashboard shows that the The highest percentage of your views and new followers occur at 20:00 PM on Fridays.However, you notice that a video posted at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday also exceeded the average. What do you do?
- Reinforce Friday posts at 20:00 PM (especially important content or collaborations).
- Experiment with lighter content, challenges, or trending videos on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM.
- Analyze whether there are external variables (holidays, events, launches) that have affected performance.
- Document the results each week and Adjust if you observe changes in your audience's consumption patterns.
The influence of trends and events on the best time to post
The Viral trends, sporting events, holidays, or current news can modify your audience's connection habits. For example, during major events, traffic may increase at certain times or shift attention toward related content. Pay attention to these factors to adjust your editorial calendar and take advantage of the knock-on effect of these trends.
Don't hesitate to take advantage of the "Discover" section to identify emerging topics and adapt your video posting to times when these topics are trending.
How to Create an Effective TikTok Posting Schedule
- Define a realistic frequency: Between 3 and 5 posts per week is recommended for most creators and brands.
- Align schedules with your core audience and sector.
- Includes high-quality content and trending material: combine more elaborate videos with simpler ones that take advantage of challenges or popular hashtags.
- Leave room for experimentation: Each month, try at least two different times outside of your usual time slot.
- Review and update your calendar: At least once a month, adapt your schedule to changes in analytics.
Useful tools to analyze your best time on TikTok
- Integrated TikTok statistics: Access the Followers, Content, and Overview sections from your Pro account.
- Metricol: offers visual dashboards and personalized schedule recommendations and comparative analysis.
- SocialPilot: allows you to automatically schedule content during the times of greatest engagement detected.
- Hootsuite: analyzes more than a million publications and recommends time slots at the industry and specific audience level.
- Iconosquare: Monitors over 30 TikTok KPIs and provides the “Best Time to Post.”
- Competition study: Manually review the most relevant profiles in your niche to find successful patterns.
Does the format type influence the best time slot? Videos, images, and carousels
TikTok is increasingly allowing for a wider variety of posts: videos, images, carousels, and live streams. Although videos remain the star format, the most recent studies (Shopify and Metricool) confirm that Best times for videos tend to coincide with those for images and carousels, although the images can work well during work breaks or daytime downtime.
Include different formats in your planning, but always prioritize the quality and relevance of what you post, regardless of the time. Take advantage of live broadcasts to interact in real time, especially during peak hours set by your audience.
How often should you post to maximize your success?
There is no universal number. However, the fastest growing brands and creators tend to publish between 3 and 7 times per weekRegularity is important, but so is avoiding spam:
- Individual or small brand account: 3-5 videos per week.
- Large brand or agency: up to 14 weekly publications, combining schedules and formats.
- Segment your calendar according to your busiest days: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays remain among the most popular for high engagement.
- Always leave a margin of at least 3-4 hours between posts so as not to cannibalize the internal reach of your own videos.
Success stories and recent studies
Various studies support the importance of the best times to post on TikTok. For example:
- Metricol: After analyzing 3 million posts and 85.000 accounts, it was observed that the 20:00 p.m. time slot in Spain is the most effective globally for videos and that Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are the days with the greatest impact for brands.
- SocialPilot: After examining 7 million posts, it found that Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays stand out for engagement, with the best results coming from posts after work hours.
- Influencer Marketing Hub: The 100.000 publications analyzed show the importance of alternating schedules between morning, afternoon, and evening to capture different audience segments.
With all this information, you can develop a professional and flexible strategy tailored to your profile, industry, and audience growth.
Key references for studies and resources to expand
Choosing the best time to post on TikTok is a mix of science, analysis, and creativity.By identifying your audience's activity patterns and implementing a strategy based on experimentation and continuous review, you'll significantly improve your chances of expanding your impact on one of today's most competitive and powerful platforms.
